Genesis 28:1-30:24

New American Standard Bible 1995

Jacob Is Sent Away

28 So Isaac called Jacob and ^(A)blessed him and charged him, and said to him, “^(B)You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. ² Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of ^(C)Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban your mother’s brother. ³ May ^[a](D)God Almighty ^(E)bless you and ^(F)make you fruitful and ^(G)multiply you, that you may become a ^(H)company of peoples. ⁴ May He also give you the ^(I)blessing of Abraham, to you and to your ^[b]descendants with you, that you may ^(J)possess the land of your ^(K)sojournings, which God gave to Abraham.” ⁵ Then ^(L)Isaac sent Jacob away, and he went to Paddan-aram to Laban, son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of Rebekah, the mother of Jacob and Esau.

⁶ Now Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and sent him away to Paddan-aram to take to himself a wife from there, and that when he blessed him he charged him, saying, “^(M)You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan,” ⁷ and that Jacob had obeyed his father and his mother and had gone to Paddan-aram. ⁸ So Esau saw that ^(N)the daughters of Canaan displeased ^[c]his father Isaac; ⁹ and Esau went to Ishmael, and ^[d]married, ^(O)besides the wives that he had, Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, the sister of Nebaioth.

Jacob’s Dream

¹⁰ Then Jacob departed from ^(P)Beersheba and went toward ^(Q)Haran. ¹¹ He ^[e]came to ^[f]a ^(R)certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it ^[g]under his head, and lay down in that place. ^12 (S)He had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, ^(T)the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³ And behold, ^(U)the Lord stood ^[h]above it and said, “I am the Lord, ^(V)the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it ^(W)to you and to ^(X)your ^[i]descendants. ¹⁴ Your ^[j]descendants will also be like ^(Y)the dust of the earth, and you will ^[k]spread out ^(Z)to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and ^(AA)in you and in your ^[l]descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. ¹⁵ Behold, ^(AB)I am with you and ^(AC)will keep you wherever you go, and ^(AD)will bring you back to this land; for ^(AE)I will not leave you until I have done what I have ^[m]promised you.” ¹⁶ Then Jacob ^(AF)awoke from his sleep and said, “^(AG)Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” ¹⁷ He was afraid and said, “^(AH)How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸ So Jacob rose early in the morning, and took ^(AI)the stone that he had put ^[n]under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on its top. ¹⁹ He called the name of that place ^[o](AJ)Bethel; however, ^[p]previously the name of the city had been ^(AK)Luz. ²⁰ Then Jacob ^(AL)made a vow, saying, “^(AM)If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I ^[q]take, and will give me ^[r](AN)food to eat and garments to wear, ²¹ and ^(AO)I return to my father’s house in ^[s]safety, ^(AP)then the Lord will be my God. ²² This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, ^(AQ)will be God’s house, and ^(AR)of all that You give me I will surely give a tenth to You.”

Jacob Meets Rachel

29 Then Jacob ^[t]went on his journey, and came to the land of ^(AS)the sons of the east. ² He looked, and ^[u]saw ^(AT)a well in the field, and behold, three flocks of sheep were lying there beside it, for from that well they watered the flocks. Now the stone on the mouth of the well was large. ³ When all the flocks were gathered there, they would then roll the stone from the mouth of the well and water the sheep, and put the stone back in its place on the mouth of the well.

⁴ Jacob said to them, “My brothers, where are you from?” And they said, “We are from ^(AU)Haran.” ⁵ He said to them, “Do you know Laban the ^(AV)son of Nahor?” And they said, “We know him.” ⁶ And he said to them, “Is it well with him?” And they said, “It is well, and here is ^(AW)Rachel his daughter coming with the sheep.” ⁷ He said, “Behold, it is still high day; it is not time for the livestock to be gathered. Water the sheep, and go, pasture them.” ⁸ But they said, “We cannot, until all the flocks are gathered, and they roll the stone from the mouth of the well; then we water the sheep.”

⁹ While he was still speaking with them, Rachel came with her father’s sheep, for she was a shepherdess. ¹⁰ When Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban his mother’s brother, and the sheep of Laban his mother’s brother, Jacob went up and rolled the stone from the mouth of the well and watered the flock of Laban his mother’s brother. ¹¹ Then Jacob ^(AX)kissed Rachel, and lifted his voice and wept. ¹² Jacob told Rachel that he was a ^[v](AY)relative of her father and that he was Rebekah’s son, and ^(AZ)she ran and told her father.

¹³ So when ^(BA)Laban heard the news of Jacob his sister’s son, he ran to meet him, and ^(BB)embraced him and kissed him and brought him to his house. Then he related to Laban all these things. ¹⁴ Laban said to him, “Surely you are ^(BC)my bone and my flesh.” And he stayed with him a month.

¹⁵ Then Laban said to Jacob, “Because you are my ^[w]relative, should you therefore serve me for nothing? Tell me, what shall ^(BD)your wages be?” ¹⁶ Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. ¹⁷ And Leah’s eyes were weak, but Rachel was ^(BE)beautiful of form and ^[x]face. ¹⁸ Now Jacob ^(BF)loved Rachel, so he said, “^(BG)I will serve you seven years for your younger daughter Rachel.” ¹⁹ Laban said, “It is better that I give her to you than to give her to another man; stay with me.” ²⁰ So Jacob served seven years for Rachel and they seemed to him but a few days ^(BH)because of his love for her.

Laban’s Treachery

²¹ Then Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my ^[y]time is completed, that I may ^(BI)go in to her.” ²² Laban gathered all the men of the place and made a feast. ²³ Now in the evening he took his daughter Leah, and brought her to him; and Jacob went in to her. ²⁴ Laban also gave his maid Zilpah to his daughter Leah as a maid. ²⁵ So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, “^(BJ)What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you ^(BK)deceived me?” ²⁶ But Laban said, “It is not ^[z]the practice in our place to ^[aa]marry off the younger before the firstborn. ²⁷ Complete the week of this one, and we will give you the other also for the service which ^(BL)you shall serve with me for another seven years.” ²⁸ Jacob did so and completed her week, and he gave him his daughter Rachel as his wife. ²⁹ Laban also gave his maid Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her maid. ³⁰ So Jacob went in to Rachel also, and indeed ^(BM)he loved Rachel more than Leah, and he served with ^[ab]Laban for ^(BN)another seven years.

³¹ Now the Lord saw that Leah was ^[ac]unloved, and He opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. ³² Leah conceived and bore a son and named him ^[ad]Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has ^[ae](BO)seen my affliction; surely now my husband will love me.” ³³ Then she conceived again and bore a son and said, “^(BP)Because the Lord has ^[af]heard that I am ^[ag]unloved, He has therefore given me this son also.” So she named him Simeon. ³⁴ She conceived again and bore a son and said, “Now this time my husband will become ^[ah]attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore he was named ^(BQ)Levi. ³⁵ And she conceived again and bore a son and said, “This time I will ^[ai]praise the Lord.” Therefore she named him ^[aj](BR)Judah. Then she stopped bearing.

The Sons of Jacob

30 Now when Rachel saw that ^(BS)she bore Jacob no children, ^[ak]she became jealous of her sister; and she said to Jacob, “^(BT)Give me children, or else I die.” ² Then Jacob’s anger burned against Rachel, and he said, “Am I in the place of God, who has ^(BU)withheld from you the fruit of the womb?” ³ She said, “^(BV)Here is my maid Bilhah, go in to her that she may ^(BW)bear on my knees, that ^[al](BX)through her I too may have children.” ⁴ So ^(BY)she gave him her maid Bilhah as a wife, and Jacob went in to her. ⁵ Bilhah conceived and bore Jacob a son. ⁶ Then Rachel said, “God has ^[am](BZ)vindicated me, and has indeed heard my voice and has given me a son.” Therefore she named him ^[an]Dan. ⁷ Rachel’s maid Bilhah conceived again and bore Jacob a second son. ⁸ So Rachel said, “With ^[ao]mighty wrestlings I have ^[ap]wrestled with my sister, and I have indeed prevailed.” And she named him Naphtali.

⁹ When Leah saw that she had stopped bearing, she took her maid Zilpah and gave her to Jacob as a wife. ¹⁰ Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a son. ¹¹ Then Leah said, “^[aq]How fortunate!” So she named him ^[ar]Gad. ¹² Leah’s maid Zilpah bore Jacob a second son. ¹³ Then Leah said, “^[as]Happy am I! For women ^(CA)will call me happy.” So she named him ^[at]Asher.

¹⁴ Now in the days of wheat harvest Reuben went and found ^(CB)mandrakes in the field, and brought them to his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, “Please give me some of your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁵ But she said to her, “Is it a small matter for you to take my husband? And would you take my son’s mandrakes also?” So Rachel said, “Therefore he may lie with you tonight in return for your son’s mandrakes.” ¹⁶ When Jacob came in from the field in the evening, then Leah went out to meet him and said, “You must come in to me, for I have surely hired you with my son’s mandrakes.” So he lay with her that night. ¹⁷ God gave heed to Leah, and she conceived and bore Jacob a fifth son. ¹⁸ Then Leah said, “God has given me my ^[au]wages because I gave my maid to my husband.” So she named him Issachar. ¹⁹ Leah conceived again and bore a sixth son to Jacob. ²⁰ Then Leah said, “God has endowed me with a good gift; now my husband ^[av]will dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons.” So she named him Zebulun. ²¹ Afterward she bore a daughter and named her Dinah.

²² Then ^(CC)God remembered Rachel, and God gave heed to her and ^(CD)opened her womb. ²³ So she conceived and bore a son and said, “God has ^(CE)taken away my reproach.” ²⁴ She named him Joseph, saying, “^(CF)May the Lord ^[aw]give me another son.”